


Dance With Me?

by Descended_from_Hufflepuffs



Series: AU-gust 2020 [9]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: AU-gust 2020, Dani is Sweet, F/M, First Meeting, Flirting, I Tried, Malcolm is Awkward, Royal Ball, Royalty AU, first time writing brightwell, might continue idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25802668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Descended_from_Hufflepuffs/pseuds/Descended_from_Hufflepuffs
Summary: It's the first time Dani's planned an event by herself and everything is going perfectly. Well, mostly. But clumsy guests or no, Dani is going to have a good time and maybe her shy guest is just what she was looking for.
Relationships: Brightwell - Relationship, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Series: AU-gust 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859431
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Dance With Me?

Daniella Powell of Bronx glanced around the ballroom and let the playful atmosphere wash over her. It was her first dance on the social scene and she'd been looking forward to it for months. Finally, she could dance and have male visitors and even sit in on meetings with her mother. Now, she was a woman.

She smiled at the guests and made polite conversation with everyone that approached her. It seemed everyone was having a good time, which was especially good since she'd helped put the party together. Her mother had handled some of the bigger details but most of it had been her work. It was perfect.

Suddenly, someone bumped into her. Thankfully, she wasn't holding a drink nor that would've been rather embarrassing. "S-Sorry," came a quiet voice, something far more fitting of a servant than the prince she turned to see. She recognized him on sight, Malcolm of Milton. They'd had a bit of a scandal years ago and their reputation was only just recovering, likely because the source of said scandal wasn't royal blood (poor Queen Jessica, she'd only wanted to marry for love). That was why she invited them; she'd wanted to help out a little. Surely staying isolated wasn't doing them any favors.

She smiled kindly and waved it off. "No harm done. Are you enjoying yourself this evening."

"Yes, actually. It's been peaceful at least." There was a bit of hesitation before he spoke again. "Would you like to dance?"

"I would love nothing more."

\----------

Malcolm had no idea why his mother actually agreed to the invitation. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if he'd been able to bring Ainsley along; she was so much better at these things than he was. But no, she was too young to attend. Not even his mother would be attending, claiming she was too old for such things. So Malcolm was left to salvage the family legacy alone.

It hadn't been a terrible evening. He was mostly ignored and anyone who did approach him at least pretended to be polite. He was just trying to find the hostess and thank her for a lovely evening before anything happened when he literally ran into her.

Luckily for him, she'd been nice. Very nice and forgiving and also very pretty. Not that he was thinking about that; there was no way she'd be even remotely interested. But as much as he wanted to leave, it would be rude to so so without at least offering a dance. Why she accepted, he might never understand.

Of all the social skills he'd had drilled into his head, dancing was the one that came most naturally. There were set rules and no need to worry about awkward conversation. He just needed to focus on the music and move his feet accordingly.

"You're good at this," she said, smiling at him in that not patronizing way.

"...Thank you. You're very good as well."

Okay maybe there was some awkward conversation. But she was still smiling so that had to count for something.

"I have to admit, I'm a little surprised you came. Your family has been so isolated since...well, you know."

Yes, he did know. He knew all too well. "My mother thought it was time we got out again. Something about creating better memories to cover up the Incident. We were honored to receive the invitation in the first place." 

The conversation became a little easier as they danced. He was pleasantly surprised with how well things were going, especially with the rocky start. Eventually they stepped off of the dance floor and kept talking at the edge of the party. They talked about what must've been everything from Malcolm's pet parakeet to Dani's annoying sisters. They probably would've kept talking if she didn't have to attend to her hostess duties. It was a little sad when he had to leave for the night.

"May I write to you?" he asked while they had a moment alone.

She smiled again and nodded. She had a nice smile. "I look forward to it."

Maybe parties weren't so bad after all.


End file.
